Henry L. Laquer

Henry L. Laquer, aged 90, died at Sombrillo Nursing Home, Los Alamos, on October 9, 2010. He leaves Justine, his wife of 63 years, sons Frederic C. Laquer and H. Turner Laquer and daughter, Lydia (Laquer) Roberts (Charles). Another daughter, Emily (Laquer) Hoffmann (Bernd) died in 1995. Six grandchildren and one great-grandson also survive as do his brothers, Edward L. Laquer and Ulric J. Laquer, M.D., and many nieces and nephews. A brother, K. George Laquer, M.D., and his sister, Barbara (Laquer) Woodbridge, predeceased him. At his request, there will be no funeral or memorial services.

Born at Frankfurt am Main, Germany, he was the oldest child of Fritz Oscar Laquer, M.D. and his wife, Katchen Maria (Guba) Laquer. His secondary education was at the Humanistic Gymnasium in Basel, Switzerland. The family came to the U.S. in 1940 and settled in Philadelphia, PA. Henry graduated from Temple University in Philadelphia in 1943. He then was accepted at Princeton University where he was awarded his PhD in physical chemistry in 1948. He married Justine Harwood in the fall of 1947. They came to Los Alamos immediately following the wedding to join LASL, now LANL.

His career at LANL included early work on the physical properties of uranium and plutonium and later work on cryogenic superconducting magnets. Following a summer science seminar for high school students in 1965, he wrote the booklet Cryogenics, the Uncommon Cold, published in 1967. After his retirement from the Lab in 1977, he went on to a successful second career consulting and investigating high temperature superconductors with his company Cryopower Associates.

Henry and his family were members of the Los Alamos Ski Club for many years and he was still skiing into his mid 80s. Summers were spent hiking and mountain climbing. He climbed 46 of the 53 Colorado 14ers as well as many of New Mexicos higher mountains. Later, in pursuing his interest in computers, he joined the Computer Users Group where he taught courses and, for some years, ran the computer lab at the Senior Center.